Feasibility and Acceptability of Point-of-Care HIV Screening in Community-Based Dental Care Settings

Abstract

The dental setting is a largely untapped venue to identify patients with undiagnosed HIV infection. Yet, uptake of rapid HIV testing within the community-based dental care settings remains low. This study will seek to better understand the community-based education experiences of dental students and how these experiences might influence their willingness to promote point-of-care HIV screening in community-based dental care settings in the future. The overall objective of this feasibility study survey dental students in order to develop an HIV prevention health education program that will increase their knowledge about HIV/AIDS and promote positive attitudes about point-of-care HIV screening, which will include the following for patients who test positive: ordering the appropriate confirmatory lab tests and linking patients to HIV care providers. A systematic intervention development process will be used to develop an HIV prevention program for dental students. Key stakeholders (dental faculty and students) will be engaged in the intervention development process. Between January and March 2019, we conducted a needs assessment survey to inform the systematic intervention development process. A broad literature review over the scope of this project was obtained with the following search strategy: (dental care OR dentist& OR dental office*) AND (underserved OR underserved population* OR population*) AND (HIV OR human immunodeficiency virus). Participants (n=77) were 67% females with mean age (years):26 ± 3.7 SD. There was no significant difference observed for means of HIV/AIDS related knowledge levels and Pre-Chemical and Biological Defense Establishment (CBDE) working experience with each of the following groups: low income, homeless, injection drug users and people living with HIV (PLWH). Pre-CBDE experience working with a group did not have an impact on their anticipated comfort level in working with the respective group during CBDE. At least 93% reported willingness to treat the population groups discussed above after graduation. Dental schools have a great impact on their student’s decisions post-graduation to provide care for different underserved populations. Health care students who are exposed to underserved populations in clinical settings are more willing and have positive attitudes towards treating such populations.